Flashback: 2004 Veepstakes

A review of last night’s breaking news seems to show that it was none other than the ACT Blog that broke what, before about 9 PM, had been an email circulating in political cycberspace. Its since been debunked as a hoax - although the source is still unknown - but not before being picked up by about a dozen sites, including Pajamas Media, Free Republic, and Hot Air. Well, at least it gave us something to talk about for the night.

However, those of us who were tempted to believe the story can at least rest assured that we aren’t the first to fall for a false trail. As shown at right, the New York Post ran a story four years ago claiming an “exclusive” into the selection of Dick Gephardt as John Kerry’s running mate. Gephardt, of course, was not the pick - instead the nod went to John Edwards.

Obama Picks Bayh as VP - Glitch Reveals Pick Early (Updates - Hoax?)

This is the kind of thing that isn’t supposed to happen - but, it appears that Obama’s VP will be Ind Senator Evan Bayh. This is coming from a premature release of the email which the Obama campaign intended to send out to supporters the morning of the announcement.

CNN reported the leak at this url: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/18/bayh.vp

..but that article has since been pulled from the site. However, THIS SCREENSHOT confirms that the article did, in fact, go up a little after 8 PM.

Still waiting for this to be picked up by FOX, I’ll report developments as they happen.

UPDATE:  Aron Goldman from www.race42008.compointed out that the CNN article contains a couple of typos, suggesting this may be a fake. That is, of course, possible (I didn’t take the screenshot myself, so I can’t confirm the authenticity of it - though I don’t see Bayh as being the person to inspire a rumor mill - but mistakes aren’t uncommon online, Fox continues to report Obama’s speech at the 1904DNC convention.

UPDATE 2: At this point, I want to welcome the readers from www.shotsonthehouse.com, www.instapundit.com, and www.amerpundit.com - as well as any other sites that have picked up the story that I haven’t seen yet.  As mentioned, I cannot independently confirm the story - we will have to wait for the Obama campaign or CNN to comment for that. However, at least at this point, I see no reason to doubt the authenticity. The article follows CNN format, and the screenshot shows no signs of doctoring. In addition, Bayh has long been rumored to be the potential pick, so this could very well be a mistake leading to the unintentional release of the Veep. In any case, I’m bringing out the red light.

Update 3: At this point, I’ll mention that my source for this story comes from a friend of mine who I can generally rely on to send me anything he thinks might be major news. Generally, I’ve already seen it, though this is not the case in this situation. I will have to wait until morning to ask him if he took the picture himself, or got it from somebody else - though I don’t see him intentionally feeding me a fake story.  If, tomorrow, I find out this is a game of Internet telephone, I’ll let you know, and advise you to take it with a grain of salt - though I think that is worth doing ANYTIME we get a story from someplace other than the Obama campaign. As I said earlier, I can’t confirm it myself, but, right now, have no reason to doubt this. In any case, I figured it was worth reporting with the disclaimer.

UPDATE 4: As I just said, I have no reason right now to doubt that this story is true. However, there are some concerns about spelling. This could be nothing, or it could indicate a hoax. However, all other aspects of the article - including the URL, and basically everything else, seem to be in order.

UPDATE 5: Hot Air presents some evidence that this may  be a hoax. Apparently, the story never showed up in a RSS feed - that could suggest a hoax, although I’m not sure about how long it would take to show up, and if a story disappears from an RSS feed when it is removed. The are ready to call it a hoax - I won’t go that far yet, though, as always, you have to take things like this with a grain of salt.

UPDATE 6: As much as I hate to say this, I think we may have all been had by…someone. This comes from the tab at the top of image which shows a title different from the bottom bar and the top banner. This suggests that the photo has been edited. This could be - if it is a fake - the template they used. Alex Knepper points out that a similar event happened four years ago with John Kerry - so, at least we aren’t alone. As to WHO did this, I have no idea. Theories that I’ve seen (and developed) range from someone trying to manipulate the intrade markets (no sign it had an effect there), to someone within the Obama campaign trying to distract from the real pick - which many people believe will be announced tomorrow.

Obama to Announce Veep Tuesday?

Drudge seems to think so.

…and race 4 2008 shows Obama’s swing through several states home to the most-frequently-mentioned VP candidates.

But I’m not convinced. It seems strange that there are no public events scheduled after Wednesday. Now, that could change, of course, but, assuming it doesn’t, it seems unlikely that the Obama campaign would announce their VP, and then do nothing for half a week until the convention.

Special Schedule for the Act Cast

For a number of reasons, including the news events - both official and anticipated - of the next couple of weeks, as well as some personal commitments, I’ve suspended the regular Wednesday-night scheduling of the Act Cast. That schedule will resume next month after the Political Conventions and Olympics are out of the way.

Instead, I’ll be hosting two special-editions of the Act Cast. The first will take place this Saturday, and will focus on the upcoming conventions, as well as the VPs, which will hopefully be known by the time of the show. The second show will be on Saturday, September 6th, and will be the start of general election coverage, including a focus on the House and Senate elections in November. Both shows will be at 9:00 PM.

Homepage of the Act Cast

Special program - The Political Conventions

Special program - General Election Kickoff

McCain Campaign Rules Out Pro-Choice Running Mate

This is some very good news for Conservatives who were worried by McCain’s earlier comments that he wouldn’t rule out selecting a pro-choice VP. Race 4 2008 is reporting - through CNN - that the McCain campaign has ruled out the possibility of selecting a pro-choice running mate. This takes some big names off the list - including Tom Ridge, Rudy Giuliani, and Joe Lieberman. This makes the shortlist all that much shorter, and its very likely that there are only three or four names (if that many) left, including Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty - the two candidates most likely to get the nod.

More as it develops - we are only a couple weeks, at most, away from finding out the bottom of the ticket.

The Things That Cross Party Lines

As bitter as partisan battles can be, real tragedy crosses party lines, and recieves sympathy from those of all political views. One of those events happened today went Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Bill Gwatney was shot and killed - the Gunman was later arrested, but died from wounds sustained during his capture. Below is the statement from the Democratic Party:

“Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, DNC Vice Chair Lottie Shackelford, and former mayor of Little Rock, and Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer, the President of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, issued the following statement on the passing of Arkansas Democratic Party Chair Bill Gwatney:

‘On behalf of the Democratic Party our thoughts and prayers are with Chairman Gwatney’s family and friends and the extended Democratic family in Arkansas. With this senseless act of violence we have lost a good friend and honorable man. Bill will be remembered for his hard work and dedication to the Party, and he will be sorely missed.’”

So, Not the Greatest Show…

Alright, so the launch of the 9 PM Act Cast wasn’t the greatest show on record - I actually shortened it to about 40 minutes because of a lack of listener participation - but we still managed to cover quite a bit, including about 15 minutes talking about the future of the GOP. I’m starting to think that scheduling against the Olympics and Hannity & Colmes might not have been the best idea I’ve ever had.

I haven’t decided whether or not to keep the show in the archives or file it away in the trash bin.

I’ll be running another show at 9 PM next week, hopefully with more callers. Hopefully by then people will have adjusted to - and remembered - the new time slot.

Show Tonight - 9 PM

Just a reminder to my listeners, the Act Cast will be live tonight at the new time - 9 PM EDT. This will, hopefully, be the new regular time.

Hamas Leader’s Son Renounces Islam, Jihad

How often do you see a headline like that?

“Mosab Hassan Yousef is an extraordinary young man with an extraordinary story. He was born the son of one of the most influential leaders of the militant Hamas organization in the West Bank and grew up in a strict Islamic family.

Now, at 30 years old, he attends an evangelical Christian church, Barabbas Road in San Diego, Calif. He renounced his Muslim faith, left his family behind in Ramallah and is seeking asylum in the United States.”

For a Muslim from the middle east to convert from Islam is rare - in some places, doing so can be a capital crime. But for the son of a Hamas leader to convert, move to the United States, and then openly talk about the problems of Islam and Jihadism is even more incredible.

You can read the full stroy at Foxnews.com: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,402483,00.html

War Breaks Out in Eastern Europe

This is a story we’ll probably be following for the next few days, and I’ll have more detailed information later, but what appears to be a full-scale war has broken out between Georgia and Russia. It started when Georgia sent in troops to take back a breakaway province with a high number of residents who hold Russian citizenship - prompting Russia to send in tanks and planes (which Georgia managed to shoot down).  The death toll is already said to be at or beyond 1,500.

more to come.